


A Bad Influence

by The Red Squirrel (Just_a_Fangirl)



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: 1986, But is Eddie's interest in Richie stronger?, Eddie's inner Sonia is strong, M/M, Spoiler alert: yes it is, They're 10 years old so it's all pretty innocent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 03:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12903063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_a_Fangirl/pseuds/The%20Red%20Squirrel
Summary: Bill, Stan and a reluctant Eddie hang out with the infamous Richie Tozier for the very first time. He turns out to be quite a bad influence, and Eddie kind of likes it.





	A Bad Influence

‘I don’t _want_ to hang out with Richie Tozier!’ Eddie whined, dragging his feet and falling further and further behind the group.

‘Eddie, j-just c-c-come on. He’s not so b-b-bad.’

‘He got detention on the first day of school!’ Eddie exclaimed. ‘What kind of kid gets detention on the _first day back_? I mean, you only get detention for doing something bad, so a) that means Richie Tozier is a bad kid. But also, can I just point out that you only get detention if you’re dumb enough to get _caught_ doing something bad, so b) that means Richie Tozier is an idiot.’

‘I don’t know why you’re so pissed off,’ Stan piped up, not bothering to look back at the shorter boy ranting behind them. ‘Richie seemed to really like you. Why not give him a chance?’

‘What world are you living in, Stanley?!’ Eddie cried, running to catch up so he could nag more effectively in his friend’s ear. ‘He kept calling me names and pinching me and stuff – he hates me! And I had to put up with it all day in class, and if we hang out at the arcade, he’s just going to get to pick on me in my free time, too! It’s not fair! He can make other friends! What happened to all his friends from the fourth grade, anyway? Why can’t he hang out with _them_ after school?’

‘I d-don’t think he really h-h-ad any,’ Bill said softly. And somehow his tone was enough to shut Eddie up on the subject. Bill didn’t talk a lot—he was embarrassed by his stutter—but his comments always held so much meaning he didn’t need to say much. And it was clear what he was really saying now: Richie doesn’t have anyone else, so let’s do the right thing and be friendly.

Eddie would never go against Bill, especially when it would just make him sound whiny and unkind. But he didn’t see why it was down to them to adopt Richie Tozier into their group. Yes, it was sad that Richie didn’t seem to have any friends, but it was also perfectly understandable to Eddie: the kid was obnoxious as hell.

Bill, Stan and Eddie eventually arrived at the Capitol cinema, which doubled as Derry’s small arcade. Eddie wasn’t really an outdoorsy type—at least, that’s what his mom said when he sometimes suggested that _maybe_ he might want to go outside and play baseball—but he couldn’t imagine wanting to spend much of his time in the Capitol arcade. He liked video games all right, but not enough to stand there straining his eyes in the dark to see the pixelated screens, and giving himself tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome or something as he waggled around a joystick all day. No wonder Richie had such thick glasses if he spent all his time in this dingy arcade. No wonder he was so lanky and skinny, if he just loitered around inside the Capitol all day. No wonder he doesn’t have any friends, if he spends all his time focused on video games.

 _Or maybe he spends all his time playing video games because he doesn’t have any friends to play with_ , Bill’s voice suggested gently in Eddie’s head.

Eddie sighed and followed Bill and Stan further inside the arcade, promising himself he’d be civil.

They eventually spotted Richie, glued to some martial arts fighting game in the back.

‘Hey, R-R-Richie,’ Bill called.

Richie glanced up with a bright smile, but then quickly turned back to the screen, hammering away at the buttons.

 _How rude_ , Eddie thought. _Why are we even here? He obviously doesn’t even_ want _friends._

‘Hey, B-B-Bill!’ Richie called back, and Eddie bristled. He looked pointedly at Bill as if to say “See, I _told_ you so!” but he was still lagging behind Bill and Stan, and the others didn’t notice his grumpy glare.

‘Just gimme a sec, I’ve gotta beat this guy and then we can go two-player.’

‘I haven’t p-played this one,’ said Bill, going right up to the machine and watching over Richie’s shoulder. ‘What do you do?’

‘Just beat the shit out of the other guy,’ Richie replied, and Eddie gasped, appalled.

Richie just swore! He used the _S_ _W_ _ord_!! Did Bill and Stan not just hear that?! They must have, because they laughed, looking giddy, as if they enjoyed Richie’s bad language and thought it was cool and exciting. Eddie stared back and forth between his friends, waiting for one of them to tell Richie off and suggest they walk way. He stared particularly hard at the back of Stan’s head, _sure_ he would say something, but he didn’t.

Eddie sighed. So it was up to _him_ then, the only one who hadn’t gone insane today, apparently.

‘You shouldn’t swear. You’ll get told off. And if we’re with you, we’ll get told off, too, and that’s not fair.’

Richie jumped and spun round, hands still on the game’s controls but no longer paying attention.

‘Eds, is that you?!’ he exclaimed. ‘Hey, you made it! I didn’t see you hiding back there.’

‘I’m not hiding,’ Eddie huffed, crossing his arms, not sure why the insinuation pissed him off, but pissed off just the same.

‘So you wear the fanny pack outside school, too? Thank God, I was worried there for a second. I mean, what would we do if someone got into accident – call an ambulance like a chump?’

‘You _look_ like an accident,’ Eddie scoffed, running his eyes over Richie's dirty sneakers, his jeans with the holes worn into the knees, the stained t-shirt, and the tape holding his thick, grimy glasses together. Everything about the other boy was a disaster, as far as Eddie was concerned—at least, he knew that's how his mother would see it, and therefore Eddie believed it, too. His eyes rested longest on Richie's wild, wavy hair and, for a moment, Eddie found himself thinking that at least there was one redeeming thing about Richie's appearance. But then he looked at it through his mother's eyes and quickly shook the thought away. What was he _thinking_?! Sonia Kaspbrak never would have let Eddie out of the house looking like that, so untamed hair like Richie's musn't actually look nice at all, whatever Eddie had thought at first.

'Don't you ever brush your hair?' Eddie said aloud, trying to make up for his accidental, internal slip up. His mother may not be there, and it wasn't like she could read his mind, but he still wanted to act like a good boy for her and make her proud.

‘Aww, that’s ‘cause I just got back from another round with your mom. She’s a beast, Eds, it takes a toll on a guy, you know?’

Eddie graced Richie with a deadpan look, then looked up at Bill, staring at him intently, willing him to man up and admit he was wrong about Richie so they could get out of here already. But then there was an obnoxious string of bleating sounds from the screen and they all looked over to see a “Game Over” message scroll onto the screen.

Richie gave it a cursory glance, but didn’t look too upset to have wasted another quarter. ‘Eds, you wanna—’

‘No.’

Richie blinked, looking a little disheartened.

‘C-can I have a g-g-go?’ Bill offered quickly, putting his arm behind Eddie and giving him a pinch where Richie couldn’t see, making the shorter boy flinch and squirm away.

‘Sure! Here, let me show you,’ said Richie, guiding Bill to the space beside him and fishing in his pocket for more change.

Stan and Eddie hung back, watching – or, at least, Stan was watching, and Eddie was looking in the direction of the game, but too focused on his thoughts to actually see anything.

‘Did you hear how he made fun of Big Bill?’ he whispered angrily at Stan. ‘And my fanny pack? As if it’s a crime to be prepared? I told you, guys! He kept making fun of me in class, and now he’s invading my private life, too!’

‘He wasn’t make fun of you,’ Stan muttered back. ‘Bill said he kept calling you cute. That’s a compliment.’

Eddie choked. ‘Not coming from another _boy_! He was making fun of me!’

‘Hmm,’ Stan hummed, not sounding convinced, and Eddie threw his hands into the air.

‘He _was_! Are you guys insane?! Boys don’t find other boys cute! Richie was making fun of me, and if you make fun of someone it means you hate them! He hates me and he doesn’t want to be friends!’

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about, Eds,’ Richie piped up over the sound of him and Bill hammering buttons, not taking his eyes off Yie Ar Kung-Fu. Eddie jumped and blushed, realising he had actually been yelling quite loudly. ‘You _are_ cute, and I don’t hate you.’

‘Don’t call me, Eds! We’re not even friends!’

‘Whatever you say,’ Richie conceded politely, slamming his hand down and dealing Bill’s character the finishing blow. Richie ignored Bill’s cry of disappointment and whirled on Eddie, with a devious grin on his face. ‘Now are you going to fight me or not? Because it reeeeaaally seems like you want to.’

Bill and Stan were utterly useless friends as they shoved Eddie forward for his turn as player two, putting him right in the firing line of Richie’s taunts and teasing as they battled it out over several rounds of Yie Ar Kung-Fu.

Somehow, Eddie survived. He was a quick learner, it turned out – both in terms of video games and volleying back the colourful insults Richie was so intent on dishing out. Eddie’s comebacks needed some work, but it seemed liked he’d have time to improve because Bill and Stan apparently enjoyed Richie’s company – enough to ask him to hang out again tomorrow.

‘I can’t believe you did that,’ Eddie grouched as he followed Stan and Bill home. ‘Asking him to sit with us at lunch tomorrow? Why would you want to put yourselves through that again?’

‘I thought Ri-Richie w-w-was cool,’ Bill said, shrugging.

‘Yeah, he was alright,’ Stan said. ‘I mean, he can get a bit overexcited, but it’s nothing I’m not used to,’ he added, with a pointed glance at Eddie.

‘And what is _that_ supposed to mean?!’

‘It means you’re loud and overly dramatic, so if I can put up with _you_ , there’s no reason I can’t put up with Richie.’

‘That’s bullshit you—‘

Stan and Bill gasped, stopping in their tracks and staring at Eddie. Eddie’s eyes widened and he gripped his shirt nervously. ‘What?’

‘You just said the _S Word_!’ Stan whispered.

‘What?!’ Eddie asked, stunned. ‘N-no! I didn’t! I...I didn’t mean to. I—’

‘Ri-Richie’s r-r-hubbing off on you,’ Bill grinned at Stan, who smirked back.

‘That’s not a _good_ thing! Stop smiling, you guys!’ Eddie complained as they all started walking again. ‘Swearing isn’t cool, I only did it because I was overexposed to it. All the more reason to stop hanging around that idiot trashmouth!’

Bill sniggered. ‘"Trashmouth",’ he repeated. ‘G-good one, E-Eddie.’

Eddie rolled his eyes. ‘Why are you being such—’ Eddie cut himself off quickly before the A Word or B Word slipped out of his mouth and made them smirk again. ‘Look, I know you guys like Richie and he seems fine with you two, but can you honestly not see that he doesn’t like _me_? I don’t wanna hang out with someone who just picks on me all day and doesn’t even want me around.’

‘R-Richie d- _does_ want you a-r-round,’ Bill said, confidently.

‘No, he doesn’t! Did you not hear what he kept saying about my mom? He was trying to piss me off so I’d leave.’

Bill looked sideways at Stan, who nodded in understanding.

‘He does want you around,’ Stan picked up for Bill. ‘He was the one who asked Bill to hang out today, not the other way around. And he said “Bring your friend Eddie, that kid’s a blast” or something.’

Eddie stopped in his tracks, letting the other two carry on without him.

Richie _did_ want him around? Not just that, Richie _specifically_ wanted him around – had asked for him to come along especially?

Eddie replayed the whole afternoon in his head. If there was no malice behind it, all that teasing and arguing didn't seem so mean, after all. And now that he knew Richie actually liked him, Eddie didn’t think the guy was so bad, really. Maybe he was even pretty okay, actually. True, Eddie wasn’t exactly a big fan of all the “your mom” jokes, but he could live with Richie calling him cute – I mean, it was just a friendly joke, right? No big deal. And it _had_ been pretty fun playing video games with him this afternoon…Eddie guessed he wouldn’t really mind doing it again sometime.

In fact, as Eddie crawled into bed that night, he found himself kind of looking forward to seeing Richie again tomorrow. He would never admit it to the other two, but he wanted to find out if Richie knew any curse words Eddie hadn’t heard before.

Sure, he liked being a good boy for his mom, but maybe he didn't need to keep trying so hard _all_ the time. Bill and Stan didn't exactly try to please their parents when they weren't around, and nothing bad seemed to happen to them, and they were still good kids at heart. Eddie wasn't planning to become a full-fledge rebel any time soon, but arguing and swearing with Richie over arcade games had been pretty fun, so maybe he could take a break from being the perfect son and do it again every once in a while.

What his mom didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this about two months ago, combining a couple of prompts I received on tumblr. Feel free to send me more Reddie prompts on tumblr (my username is justa-fangirl) - I'm spending all my free time jobhunting at the moment and it's soul destroying, so having some Reddie to think about would help me get through the day!


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